Monday, June 28, 2010

Grown kid day in East Vancouver

It was an easy breezy Saturday that started with me and my family watching Ghana eliminating USA from the World Cup quarter-finals. After a few exchanges of predictions of how Sunday’s games are going to go down especially between Germany and England, my parents headed to Farmer’s Market and I headed down to Grandview Park to meet Ajay (@masalapuri) at the East Side Pride event. It has been a while since I have gone for a long walk and since the day was so nice, the temperature felt just right for a nice stroll. With a funny adventurous walking companion to accompany me, we set off to explore the Strathcona/Chinatown area, where I grew up and where my grandparents still live. The walk took us from Commercial Drive to our first stop, La Casa Gelato – translation: Minna’s sugar heaven. With over 218 flavors at anytime, there is a flavour for even the pickiest ice cream connoisseur.

La Casa Gelato - 215 ice cream flavours

La Casa Gelato - interior

La Casa Gelato - interior

La Casa Gelato - Ice Cream Extravaganza

After sampling over 6 different flavours, I picked the pandan flavor because it was super tasty. Pandan is a leaf that is used often in Asian cooking and baking, imagine coconut that is toasted – that’s the pandan flavour. The extra happy bright green color is also a bonus.

La Casa Gelato - Pandan Ice Cream Flavour

Armed with ice cream in hand, we strolled down whatever street piqued our interest. Adanac and Union Street captured my attention because of how cute and quiet it was, and as we got closer to Keefer Street, the most wonderful find – an old fashioned tire swing! There is something so sweet and so innocent about a tire swing, perhaps because they remind me of a simple childhood I often see depicted on shows like The Wonder Years.

Strathcona Community - Tire Swing

As we head further down Keefer, at the corner of my eye I see a huge plume of smoke caused by these people who are throwing wood into the bright burning fire. My inquisitive walking partner inquired about this intriguing event, they explained they are burning thin wood slabs of wood that has their written wishes on it and then they will walk on the fire. Amusingly, the guy who spoke to us showed us his wish “I wish my feet will not burn” and I giggled at the irony of it all. Money from the event goes to benefit cancer research. It was going to be an hour before we can see people walking barefoot on fire so we left without the thought of coming back because as intriguing as it is I don’t think i would want to see anyone screaming in pain.

Fire Walkers

Walking further down Keefer Street, we encountered the Chinatown Night Market – a shopping and eating extravaganza! There are some amazing things for your eyes to feast on. Chinatown Night Market is also the frugal fashionista and adventurous foodie choice haven.

Chinatown Night Market - Vancouver

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

Chinatown Night Market - Vendors

My highlight for Chinatown Night Market was the tornado potato – it is an architectural feat and (as the banner stated) it was surprisingly tasty! At $3.50 and five different flavours to choose from, it was a huge winner for me.

My grandparents walked by, they gave me big smooches and hugs as soon as they saw me – it was a happy coincidence! I love my grandparents, they are in their late eighties and they still make sure to take a walk through the neighborhood every single day! After 20 minutes of watching the games, it got colder so we’re back on the path to Main Street sky train to head home. I was surprised to discover Downtown Skate Park right beside Andy Livingstone Park; it was a fantastic place with a mix of young, old, experienced, inexperienced and various different ethnic groups skateboarding and rollerblading together. It was also a safe place to learn how to rollerblade and skateboard away from traffic.

Downtown Skate Park

Downtown Skate Park

The sun was hiding behind the clouds as we cross Pacific Street and I had to snap a picture of downtown’s skyline.

Sun hiding behind clouds

Suddenly, the sun came out again and I couldn’t help myself, I saw a cute little playground and thought, well why not? Let’s play in the playground! After a few monkey bars, a few slides down the happy yellow slide – I feel refreshed. It’s good to be a kid again. I got to play today!

Passing by Science World, I took a big breath and took in the scenery. Vancouver is a beautiful place and this is a beautiful moment. I was still for a moment to appreciate the beauty of the present.

Science World - False Creek

Science World - False Creek

Science World

Take a walk and discover your city. There is much to see, do and love in the city. We have to appreciate how lucky we are that we live in one of the most beautiful cities on the planet.